The measurement of physiological variables, for example, the airway pressure and the flow through the airways, the breathing gas temperature, the body core temperature, the oxygen saturation and ECG (Electrocardiogram) are of great significance for the therapy of patients with respiration support, hereinafter called generally artificial respiration. These measurements are carried out, in general, with individual sensors at individual cables independently from the breathing tubes for the respiration support.
The treatment parameters and data arising for a certain patient from the type of the patient connection are entered manually by the attending staff in the respiration support device, i.e., especially an anesthesia apparatus or a respirator.
The individual sensors used with their cables lead to error-prone and cluttered situations in hospitals (so-called “spaghetti syndrome”), and the need to enter device data and therapy data takes time and requires attention on the part of the attending staff. A tube with a device for detecting the endotracheal pressure and the breath flow is disclosed in DE 199 51 578 C1. In this device a differential pressure sensor is arranged in a liquid-proof manner in the tube wall close to the tip of the tube and a differential pressure sensor is arranged close to the base and the two sensors are coupled pneumatically via a duct in the tube wall. This duct is connected to the atmosphere via an opening. A transmitter is provided for the telemetric transmission of the measured data.